Later Years
During World War I, Wright enlisted in the army in 1914, rising to the rank of captain in 1917. He was demobilised in 1919. He was back on stage in Three Pips and a Petticoat at the Coliseum in 1919, and appeared in A Breath of Fresh Air in 1920 and as Poire in Sybil at Daly's in 1921.
Wright's later stage appearances included The Lady of the Rose (as Suitangi, 1922 and also a 1929 revival), and Madame Pompadour (1923, as Joseph Calicot). In May 1929 he made his 5,000th appearance at Daly's, in a revival of The Lady of the Rose. In 1931 he played Gaspard in Les cloches de Corneville and was praised by The Manchester Guardian: "quite remarkable old-school acting ... a true stylist." In 1935 Wright appeared in The Unknown Warrior, at the Arts Theatre Club, playing a serious role, for which he was respectfully reviewed. He also received praise for his appearance as Dunce the puritan in The Soldier's Fortune (1935), a revival of a restoration comedy by Thomas Otway.
Wright was an early and prolific exponent of broadcasting, making frequent radio appearances in operetta, plays and musical comedies on the BBC. In October and November 1927, for example, he starred in complete transmissions of Miss Hook of Holland, The Cousin from Nowhere, and The Rose of Persia and he sustained a similar pattern of frequent broadcasting for the rest of his career. He also appeared in several films, including the film version of San Toy (1902), Going Straight (1933), The Empress and I (1933), Ich und Die Kaiserin (1933), Heart Song (1933), The Only Girl (1934), and Look up and Laugh (1935), as well as an early television production of The Little Father of the Wilderness (1939).
Wright died of a heart attack at the age of 72 in Bangor, Wales.
Read more about this topic: Huntley Wright
Famous quotes containing the word years:
“The world is a puzzling place today. All these banks sending us credit cards, with our names on them. Well, we didn’t order any credit cards! We don’t spend what we don’t have. So we just cut them in half and throw them out, just as soon as we open them in the mail. Imagine a bank sending credit cards to two ladies over a hundred years old! What are those folks thinking?”
—Sarah Louise Delany (b. 1889)
“The discovery of Pennsylvania’s coal and iron was the deathblow to Allaire. The works were moved to Pennsylvania so hurriedly that for years pianos and the larger pieces of furniture stood in the deserted houses.”
—For the State of New Jersey, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)